Ok Doc . . . confession time. I crashed hard in Waco and wound up with some severe leg bruising on the lateral and posterior side of my calf. I experienced immediate edema local to the injury and had moderate pain--but not enough to make me quit the race, or quit any activities after that.

I was anxious to continue exercising and pushed it pretty hard the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday following the race, but continued to have episodes of swelling after each workout. Again, just nagging pain, but not severe.

Well, a week later it has not resolved and an ortho friend of mine looked at it--he was shocked and told me to get an immediate x-ray and get into a stabilization boot etc. The thought is that I may have broken my fibula . . .

Now I know that I am not a BAd-a$$ and my pain tolerance is rather average--but I thought bone breakage would hurt more! I was also under the impression that I could not walk around, let alone continue to work out etc. My wife just shakes her head in disbelief . . .

I don't know if I am asking for comment, advice, or just sharing my story for anyone else who may be walking around with broken bones and are just too stubborn to access the medical community . . .

Yes, you can walk around on a broken bone. If an orthopedic surgeon was impressed enough to recommend an X-ray, get an X-ray of the injurred leg (though your wife likelys wants one of your head) and follow-up with the orthopedic doctor

Thanks._________________Paul K. Nolan, MD
AKA: The Bike Doc

Last edited by The Bike Doc on Tue May 01, 2007 3:55 pm GMT +0000; edited 1 time in total

Joe, when I had my injury in 2004, my tibia was broken near the base of the ankle, the fibula at the ankle and below the knee. The surgery and recovery was all based on getting the tibia healed, the doctor said the fibula would heal on its own. My understanding is that it is not the main weight bearing bone thus the reason you could still function albeit with some pain. On the other hand, I have heard of fibula only breaks that can cause lots of grief so get that thing treated okay man!_________________Masters 60+;